The county’s “Long Term Agriculture” zoning designation
applies to parcels that may be of lasting commercial value for
agriculture. The areas are zoned using criteria such as the nature and
depth of viable soils and the presence of critical areas. This zoning
district provides an opportunity to use the land for agricultural uses
alongside prairie habitat management.

The Open Space Tax Program provides a way for County
Assessors to base property tax assessments on the “current use value” of
lands used for natural resource production or protection. The market
value of land used for farming, timber production or open space uses is
often much lower than the market value of other uses, like residences or
businesses. Since property taxes are based on the “highest and best” use
under state law, owners of farmland or open space sometimes have
difficulty continuing their “natural resource” uses while paying
“higher” use taxes. Property owners who commit to continuing these uses
may apply the current use classification. Their property assessments
will then be based on current use values, resulting in lower property
taxes.

The minimum size of property eligible for the program is five acres.
It’s an excellent way to maintain large areas of existing prairie
habitat while providing financial incentive and relief to property
owners as part of a “working lands” conservation strategy. For more
information on the county’s Open Space Tax Program, click
here.

The Purchase of Development Rights authorizes
Thurston County and qualified conservation organizations to purchase
development rights (essentially residential density) with the purpose of
preserving farmland. The program compensates land owners for agreeing to
conserve their land. Generally, the property owner would retain
ownership of the land and continue to reside on and farm the property.

The Transfer of Development Rights Program provides
an opportunity for working-land owners to sell their development rights
without having to sell their entire property for development. Under this
approach, the rural character and agricultural economy of Thurston
County is preserved, and working-land owners have the opportunity to
realize some of the true market value of their land without having to
sell the land altogether for urban development.

When you purchase property, you get more than just the land – you get
rights over how the land is used, including mineral rights, development
rights and water rights. Those rights can be sold or transferred without
affecting the land itself. Under a TDR program, the owner of working
lands can sell the development rights from the land to somebody in an
urban area. The rights are sold in the form of credits, and the buyer
can use those credits to develop land at a different density than local
zoning would normally allow. TDR programs help preserve working lands,
because the landowners can benefit from the true market value of their
development rights, without having to sell the land altogether to a
developer. Meanwhile, the buyer of those rights has greater flexibility
in developing land within certain zoning areas. It’s a way to shift
development away from rural areas and into urban areas.

Mitigation/Conservation banks are permanently
protected lands that contain natural resource values. The lands are for
species that are endangered, threatened, candidates for listing, or are
otherwise at risk. Conservation banks offset adverse impacts to these
species that occur elsewhere, sometimes known as off-site mitigation. In
exchange for permanently protecting the land and managing it for these
species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approves a specified number
of habitat or species credits that bank owners may sell. Developers who
need to compensate for the unavoidable adverse impacts their projects
have on species (incidental take) may purchase the credits from
conservation banks to mitigate the impacts.

A Safe Harbor Agreement is a voluntary agreement
involving private or other non-Federal property owners whose actions
contribute to the recovery of threatened or endangered species. Some
property owners may be reluctant to undertake activities that support or
attract listed species on their properties, due to fear of future
property-use restrictions related to the ESA. To address this concern, a
SHA provides that future property-use limitations will not occur without
the landowner’s consent. Property owners receive formal assurances from
the USFWS that as long as they fulfill the conditions of the Safe Harbor
Agreement, they will not need to carry out any additional management
activities unless they consent to them.

Conservation easements protect critical land for
future generations while allowing owners to live on, use, and own their
land. An easement is either donated or sold by the landowner in exchange
for agreeing to limit certain uses of the land, such as subdivisions or
new development. Landowners keep their private property rights while
enjoying certain tax benefits, which help keep land intact and in the
family. You can still sell your land with a conservation easement.